New York's Freerange Nonfiction to Move to Maine

Freerange Nonfiction logo
(from Freerange's Facebook site)

Freerange Nonfiction, a publication featuring emerging writers, those with some sort of commercial or reputational beachhead, or "established" writers, will be moving from its New York digs to Portland, Maine. That means Freerange's founder and executive director, Mira Ptacin, is leaving Gotham for the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

My close friend Bob introduced me to Freerange last year. The poet Christi Shannon Kline had tipped him off about Freerange's monthly live readings, conducted on the second floor of a Lower East Side bar. At that time, I had just resumed a lukewarm interest in readings. For decades, I would not attend a prose reading. Since most serious prose is not intended for oratorical declamation, I concluded these "honor the writer" sessions just smelled like literary bullshit. However, I uneasily came around to the notion that authors reading their works, especially works in progress, might be interesting.

I went to a couple of Freerange readings, and I must admit I enjoyed them. Some writers were clearly better than others, but that expectation came with the territory. Some speakers took advantage of the venue to showcase new work. I liked that. Some writers pulled out some reliable, safe material. I wondered why they bothered, unless they were doing Ptacin a favor by showing up or they wanted a way to fluff up their resumes.

The Lower East Side bar where Freerange Nonfiction held
monthly readings (photo from NYC Magazine and travelpod.com)

Ironically, I won a book in a Freerange raffle. (I blogged about this event in early February.) It was Baratunde Thurston's How to Be Black. I had listened to him read that evening. He's a polished performer, and he demonstrated his skill during his reading. After the event, the raffle winners were announced, my name was called, I picked up my prize, and the author signed it. I can safely say I don't fit the profile of a likely Baratunde Thurston fan. Honestly, if he had not autographed the book, I would have given it to someone who was familiar with Thurston's work and wanted to read it.

No one I knew filled that bill. Dutifully, I began to read the book, convinced it wasn't my cup of tea at all. Slowly, I came around to giving the book a chance. It turned out to be filled with surprises, sharp observations, and humor. At the end of How to Be Black, I felt a great sense of gratitude. I had been introduced to an aware, strong, comic voice that managed to have insight about his past as well as where he is now.

I'll have to find other opportunities in New York for readings. Hopefully, they'll be as rewarding as Freerange's were.

PS. Earlier this year, Freerange published a story written by my friend Robert Kline. It's a good, well-written story, and worth checking out.